Women and Mothers

I know this is late, but this mother's day, I wanted to write a post to express my gratitude for the incredible women in my life, starting with my own angel mother. My mom is the best in the world! From her I have learned and continue to learn about love, selflessness, strong faith and devotion, prayer, tenderness....the list could go on. She is the most loving person I've ever known. I have always felt so loved by her. Thank you, mom for being such a great example of  what true beauty is! I love you! :)  

My beautiful sister and Alice

Next is my amazing sister. There is quite the age gap between us (9 years), but she has always been a great example to me. I love living so close to her and being involved in each other's lives. She has firm faith, a fun, friendly personality, and amazing determination and strength through the good and tough times (10 surgeries in the past 6 years!).

Then there is my sweet mother-in-law.  We have similar personalities and I just love being around her when we have the opportunities. She is very calm and sweet, always making sure everyone is taken care of. I am amazed at how she raised SIX amazing sons (my hubby being the most amazing, of course ;). I am grateful for her righteous example of how to raise righteous, faithful children. I know that she is a "mother who knows". She reminds me of the mothers of the stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon (See Alma 56: 47-48).

Grandma Dunn

Grandma Brewer

The Grandmothers in my life are very special to me. Grandma Dunn has always been so supportive and loving to all her family members. I love hearing stories of how she raised SEVEN boys and ONE girl. She has always been energetic and kind. Even though we've always lived far apart, I've always felt so loved and cared for by her. Grandma Brewer is Ben's grandma, but I feel close to her like she is my own (biological) grandma too. We've been blessed to be able to live near her since we got married. Grandma Brewer is ALWAYS thinking of others and how to serve. She is so very kind and one of my favorite people to spend time with. She is very strong-willed with a very strong faith that she shares by her shining example to all around her. My Granny Lois has always been special. I've not spent very much time with her, but I know she loves the Lord and loves all around her. She is very willing to love and serve those around her and is just as sweet as can be. (Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Granny Lois)

Emily

I am blessed to have some amazing Sisters-in-law.

~Emily just joined our family a few months ago, but she's a keeper! ;) She is so good for my brother and I can tell she is an amazing mother. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better. 

Song

~We had the opportunity to live with Mike and Song for a few months while Ben did an internship in D.C. I learned SO MUCH from Song about motherhood and wifehood (is that even a word?) I was still very much a new mother with Merrilee being only 6 months when we moved there, and I found out I was pregnant with Alice while we were there also! Song showed me and helped me realize the kind of wife and mother I aspire to be with my children and family by the way she ran her household and loved her children. Through her example, she taught me about housekeeping, sewing, cooking, how to be a good friend/neighbor, how to show your children love throughout the day...the list could go on. I know we were supposed to go out East for a reason, and I know that this is one of them...so that I could learn from Song's example of love, patience, kindness, hard work, and tenderness. (Miss you Song!)

Hoku

Jeralyn

~Hoku and I go way back...to middle school band! Yep we sat next to each other in the flute section of the 8th grade band. We also went on a YW backpacking trip together a few years later. I am so happy that we are sisters now! Hoku is an amazing example of superwoman! Her ambition and hard work are inspiring (working, schooling, motherhood)! She is very loving and FUN to be around.

~Jeralyn and I also go way back! We were friends in High School and we always thought it would be funny if we both married Brewer boys and became related. :) Well, now we are! Jeralyn also has a fun personality. I've always admired her quiet strength and easy-going attitude. She is just so sweet and I love talking with her when we get the chance. The way she treats all around her shows what a kind-hearted person she is!

Kylie

~Kylie is so awesome. I've always loved how friendly and outgoing she is! She is an amazing mama and crafter/homemaker extraordinaire! I find her easy to talk to and relate with and she's just one of those people you want to be around! I'm glad we've gotten to spend some time together every few months! 

And then there are all my Friends. I don't have room to write about each one of them here, but they are my best, lifelong friends, my friends from high school, my friends from college, my friends from church, my friends from the community...I feel like I have many friends who uplift me, inspire me, encourage me and are examples to me. These are the women who are making a difference in my life everyday (whether they know it or not) just by their examples. 

There are so many women and mothers in my life who have helped me become who I am today and who continue to help me to progress and refine my womanly and motherly attributes.Thank you all for being the women you are! 

Some catch up with photos

Ok, so here's some random catch up with some photos...

My mom came into town a couple weeks ago and we had a grand time. We went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving point, played games, and just had fun!

 

 

  
 My mom gave Alice a few early birthday presents... a precious little dress and 2 baby dolls (Thanks Nana!).  I couldn't get her to look at the camera because Merrilee was distracting her. Oh well.

Ben and I had our anniversary date. Dinner at Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Point. It was very lovely and delicious!

 

Merrilee loves to be a helper these days, especially in the kitchen! Sometimes it ends up being way more of a mess, but oh so fun! :) Here are some after pictures of helping with a recipe that involved flour...(its a little hard to see, but she was COVERED in flour! hehe)

Alice is just getting cuter by the day! She has 2 bottom teeth and one (huge) top tooth in right now. She's so silly during bath time! ;)

4 Years Down, Eternity to Go! (With some marathons in between)

Last year I (Maura) wrote our Wedding Anniversary post, so Ben decided he would write one this year (what a sweet man!):

Maura and I had quite the eventful weekend. I will begin with our 4^th wedding anniversary.

We celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary on May 3. On May 9, it will be the 9^th anniversary of our first date. So you can understand what I mean when I say it feels like we have been married longer than 4 years.

    

 I took Maura out to Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Point for Dinner. It was a Thursday night so we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. It was so weird just having us two alone that It took some time to know what to talk about besides children stuff.  It was nice to take Maura out and spoil her. She also picked out a few cute outfits on our outing. Maura is a very frugal person, so when we go shopping for clothing, I have to force her to put things in her cart. It’s Ironic that I am the big spender in the home.

I wanted to write this blog post because it gave me an opportunity to share how amazing of a person Maura really is and how grateful I am to be married to her.

I knew in High School I wanted to marry her. Strange for a high school kid to be thinking even a day ahead, but I was sure that she was the one for me. I am grateful that this early impression happened. From the beginning our relationship it was obvious to all around that Maura was dating DOWN. I was nice on the outside but sometimes not so gooey and creamy on the inside. I had and still have a lot of edges that Maura is trying to smooth out.

                I never had much confidence in my ability to do well in schooling. On our first day of senior year in high school, Maura and I just friends at the time compared schedules as we walked to class. We basically had opposite schedules. She had high school in the morning and college classes in the afternoon. As I walked her to her first class, I not having any classes till my college classes at 10:00 AM, I felt desperate because I wasn’t going to see her during the days. At this point we had been on one "official" date and I was really starting to like her. So I followed her to her first class, AP Government, and sat next to her. When the teacher asked who I was, I told him that I was joining the class. Maura seemed a little shocked, as did I, that those words came out of my mouth. I also did this same procedure for the second class of the day. I had to drop all of my morning college classes and switch them to the afternoon.

                I am not sure why, but being with Maura really drove me to excel at school. I received the same grade as her in those classes (remember Maura easily got into BYU Provo) which was amazing to me because I don’t think I had ever seen an “A” before. I spent the next 9 months courting her to the point of giving the most romantic love story a run for its money. Now I wasn’t perfect. I made a fool of myself probably more than anything else. But it didn’t matter to me. Maura made me want to be better, and I  couldn’t  let go of her. So here we are today, married and two kids later. Our adventure began only 9 years ago, and there is plenty more ahead. I couldn’t think of a better person to continue this journey with.

Soooooooooooooooo…..#2 Maura and I ran a Half Marathon Relay Today!

As I write this, Maura is passed out on the couch. Maura only began training a few weeks ago, and she managed to run 6.8 miles today in a decent time. We basically ran a half marathon relay style, with me starting the race, meeting her half way, and her finishing the race. We awoke this morning at 4:30 AM and I had to take a bus to the start line at 5:30 AM in Provo canyon. This was all while it was 38 degrees outside. We are pretty beat at this point. Maura is really good about pushing herself to be better.  We finished in a combined time of 2 hours and 2 minutes for 13.1 miles. Not bad for amateurs.

The girls are doing well. Alice turns one in a few weeks, and Merrilee has become a “good helper” in the kitchen. She stands on an old laundry detergent bucket and watches as we cook and wash dishes. We love these little girls.

That’s all. You will not likely hear from me for another year, because I do not want to scare people away from the blog, so expect to hear from Maura soon.